Paper-filing case



No. 751,987. PATENTED FEB. 9, 1904. G. MILLER. PAPER FILING CASE.

APPLIUATION FILED APR. 19, 1902.

H0 MODEL.

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vention; Fig. 2, an enlarged sectional eleva I UNITED STATES PatentedFebruary 9, 190,4.

GEORGE MILLER, OF LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA.-

PAPER-FI'LING CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part, of Letters Patent No. 751,987, datedFebruary 9, 1904.

Application filed April 19, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be itknown that I, GEORGE MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lancaster, in the county of Lancaster and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPaper-Filing Cases; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in a paper-filing case of thatclass in which the case is preferably book form and in which theindex-sheets are mounted on pins held in place by pairs ofretaining-strips secured in position between the opposite edges of theback and the adjacent surfaces of the sides ofthe case; but theinvention-relates more particularly to the construction and arrangementof said pins and retaining-strips.

The objectof the invention is the produc tion of a convenientfiling-case in which the pins holding the index-sheets securely in placemay be inserted into and removed from their respective retaining-stripsat pleasure-desiderat-a of great moment when said sheets have to berepaired, changed, or additional ones inserted.

The elements of the invention will severally and at large appear in thefollowing description, and they will be separately or combinedly pointedout or set forth in the appended claims.

The purposes of the invention are attained by the devices and meansillustrated in the accompanying drawings, similar reference charactersdesignating like parts throughout the several views, in which Figure lis a perspective view of a paperfiling case embodying the elements ofthe intion taken on the line as m in Fig. 1, showing said elements inposition with a number of index-sheets in place; Fig. 3, a view of theleft-hand end portion of Fig. 2, showing the pin in the position ofbeing entered into or withdrawn from the position indicated in Fig. 2-;Figs. 4 and 5, respectively, an enlarged direct plan and a perspectiveview of the up- Serial 'flo.103,'715. (N0 model.)

per retaining strip detached from Fig. 2; Figs. 6 and '7, respectively,a similar plan and perspective view of the lower retaining-strip alsodetached from Fig. 2; and Fig. 8, an en-' larged side elevation of thepin likewise detached from Fig. 2.

In the drawings, A designates a filing-case, referred to in theopeningparagraph hereto, having a rounded back plate a with two endwalls a a and a bottom plate (0 all rigidly connected and secured to theunder edge and the ends of said back plate having also a top platecomprising two sections a a, with the section a likewise connected andsecured to said end walls and to the upper edge of said back plate, saidsection a being hinged to said section 5?, as by a pliable strip (5,secured to the top surfaces of the sections, and the front 7 end of thecase is closed by a plate a, folded up against the forward ends of saidside walls underneath the top lid or section c and engaging on top ofsaid bottom plate c with its lower edge hinged to the bottom plate, asby a pliable strip a embracing and secured to their adjacent edges,while a clasp or catch: lock a 'is provided to hold the adjacent edgesof the section cf and of the plate a together, said hinge-jointsallowing the former to turn upward and the latter to turn downward,opening the case. l Vithin the case are arranged in a pile the desirednumber of the usual indexed filing sheets A, having columns ofregistering punctures or orifices a, which may be provided with eyeletsadjacent to their edges opposite the indexes, and to secure these sheetsin place, so that they may be inserted or removed at pleasure withoutinjuring the case, is the prime feature of the invention.

At prescribed points to the upper and lower edges of the back plate aare secured in any approved manner pin retaining or holding strips B B,the former above and the latter below, and before the bottom a and thesection a are thereto attached, said bottom and section covering themand serving to hold them securely in place.' These strips have approveddimensions and are punched or otherwise cut from sheet metal, preferablysteel. At prescribed points in their bodies are raised domelikeprojections b, forming prescribed depres- I sions or recesses 5' undersaid domes, housing the heads and opposite ends of the indexedsheet-retaining pins,yet to be described, which domes are provided withcentral orifices b engaging the bodies or shafts of said pins near theheads and other ends thereof, while from said orifices through theforward or free ends of the strips B are cut slots 5 for the passage ofsaid shafts, and said slots form parallel tongues b to guide the headsof said pins, while said tongues are made slightly curving away from therecessed sides of the strips, so as to form slopes or inclined planes upwhich the heads of said pins may readily slide to be moved into therecesses b of said upper strips, and the fiat or recessed sides of thestrips B B when secured in place, as shown, lie against the adjacentsurfaces, respectively, of the bottom plates a and the sections a At thesecured ends of these strips in this instance are points or tines b bentperpendicular therewith and which extend beyond the surfaces thereofhaving the domes, being adapted to be pressed into the body of the backplate, holding the strips in place, with the bottom a and the section acovering them, and now for the purposes of the invention a pin C,having, preferably, a rounded point 0, a straight cylindrical shank orshaft 0', and a flat circular head 0 with arounded peripheral edge 0 ispassed downwardly through each column of orifices a of thefiling-sheets, said sheets being freely movable up and down thereon andsaid pins having their points 0 in serted into the orifices of the lowerstrips B, with their heads a passing above the tongues b and theadjacent portions of their shafts 0 through the slots of the upperstrips B entered into the recesses b of said upper strips and securelyseated therein, thus securing said filing-sheets in place within thecase and from which said filing-sheets may be readily removed withoutinjuring the case by reversing this operation.

It is well known that Patent No. 573,569,

' dated December 22,1896,Was issued to Charles M. Carnahan for apaper-file in which pairs of filing-pin holders are used to secure suchpins in fixed positions, from which they cannot be withdrawn withoutdestroying the case. No claim is therefore made, broadly, to the holdingor securing of the filing-pins; but

What is considered new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. In a paper-filing case, a casing, socketstrips secured to the bottomof the case, an apertured dome formed in each of the said strips, springholding-strips each having a bifurcated end, an inverted dome formed ineach of the said holding-strips and communi eating with thebifurcations, and a plurality of headed filing-pins, one end of each pinentering the dome of the socket-strip and the other end carrying thehead entering the holdingstrip through the bifurcation and held in thedome thereof through the resiliency of said spring holding strip,substantially as described.

2. In a paper-filing case of the character described, in combination,pairs of filing-pinretaining strips secured to said case, one of eachpair having on one side a dome with a depression thereunder and acentral orifice therethrough, and the other one of each pair having alike dome, a like depression, and a central orifice, with a slot fromsaid orifice through the forward end of said strip, and having a tongue.on each side of said slot, said tongues having their forward endscurving outwardly on the side having the dome, and a filing-pin having arounded end engaging through the orifice of said first-mentioned stripand seated in the depression thereof, said pin having at its oppositeend a head movable over the curving tongues of said last-mentioned stripand by reason of the slot between said tongues and of its centralorifice securely seated in the depression thereof, all substantially asdescribed and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

3. In a paper-filing case, a casing having a back, top and bottom,socket-strips secured to the back and lying flush with the bottom ofsaid ease, upwardly-projecting semispherical domes provided with centralapertures and formed integral with the said strips, springholding-strips secured to the back against the top of the case andformed with downwardly and outwardly curved ends provided with abifurcation, downwardlyprojecting semispherical domes communicating withthe bifurcations, and a plurality of filing-pins having their pointsinserted in the apertures of the domes of the socket-strips and havingtheir heads entered through the bifurcations and resting in the domes ofthe spring holding-strips, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE MILLER.

